First Impressions
by theboyfriend-and-theprettygirl
Summary: Introduced by their common friends Caroline & Matt, Tyler and Elena go on a blind date but end the night hating each other. Their lives take a turn when they are handed over custody of the orphaned baby of their deceased friends. Inspired by the 2010 movie Life As We Know It. Tyler x Elena & Bonnie x Kai. Will be rated M for later chapters.


**Title: **First Impressions

**Genre: **Romance/Angst

**Summary**: Introduced by their common friends Caroline & Matt, Tyler and Elena go on a blind date but end the night hating each other. Their lives take a turn when they are handed over custody of the orphaned baby of their deceased friends.

**Disclaimer/ Note from the author: **I don't own the concept of this story. It was inspired by one of my favourite romantic comedies (Life As We Know It- Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel). Anyways in hindsight, I probably should've made this a forwood fic. I feel like the role that Katherine plays reflects Caroline more than Elena but I am just so invested in Tylena at the moment, so I am taking a chance on this and really hoping it works. I'm not sure if anyone will read this because Tylena is a crackship but if you do read, please take a minute to review. Fanfiction writers invest so much time in bringing a story to you and we do it with no reward or payment. It really does mean the world to us when we hear what other people think. xx Paris xx

**Date Published:** 15 January 2020.

_© theboyfriend-and-theprettygirl, 2020_

* * *

**Chapter One:** First Impressions

**2015**

Elena sighed heavily and applied another coat of lipstick to her cherry lips. Her date was late. _Very late_. She was going to kill Caroline when she saw her next, she thought as she ran her hands through her hair, fidgeting with different partings until she was satisfied she had done all she could to look good. She switched off her bathroom light and headed back to the living room to wait. Popping herself down on a seat, she reached for the latest article of Cosmopolitan from her coffee table. _10 ways to make him want you _caught her eye as she flicked through the pages idly. A soft knock at the door broke her out of her boredom.

Elena straightened her tight black dress quickly by tugging it at the knees and headed towards the direction of her apartment door.

"Hi."

She did her best to hide her disappointment at what she saw. There was no denying that he _was_ attractive, but the clothing he had chosen to wear on their date was questionable. _Who the hell shows up in jeans and a tee-shirt, with a worn out black jacket and to top it all off...a faded basketball cap?_

"Hi...Elena." she said holding out her hand towards him. "You're Tyler?"

"Lockwood." he corrected her, shaking her hand firmly.

_"Lockwood?" _

"Yeah...everyone calls me that." he said adjusting the cap on his head. "It's my last name so..."

"Well it's nice to finally meet you, Lockwood."

"Wow...you look..." he said, checking her out up and down with his wondering eyes.

"Thanks." she forced a smile.

"I mean...I'm_ under dressed_, right? You're in this gorgeous little dress and I've come straight from work. I should've changed."

"Nooo." Elena lied quickly, "It's fine. I'm probably over dressed with this anyways."

"Am I late?"

Elena bit her bottom lip quickly, afraid of what she would say if she hadn't restrained herself. "Umm...just an hour. But I just finished getting ready and Caroline said it was your M.O. So..."

"Matt said you would probably say something if I was late."

Elena laughed awkwardly. "Oh. Did he?"

Tyler broke into a relieved laugh. "Yeah."

"So..Should we go?" she asked breaking the awkward silence that fell over them.

"Yeah, let's go and eat."

"Great. I'm starving." she said, pulling her apartment door shut behind her.

They walked in silence towards the main entrance of the gated community. Elena was never really good at small talk, but awkward silences made her uncomfortable. She cleared her throat.

"So..Caroline tells me that you just moved to Atlanta?"

"Yep."

"How long have you known Matt for?"

"Uh..high school."

"I've known Caroline since college we were in a sorority together. Kappa Alpha Theta."

"Sounds like you guys were mean girls."

Elena laughed a little. "We did our share of hazing the new recruits but it was nothing compared to what we had to endure when we were pledging."

"Uh huh."

"So...where's your car?" she asked when they hit the street.

"Right here." Tyler said pointing to the motorbike parked at the curb. "Here you go." he said passing her a helmet, before putting on his own.

"Oh." she said, as her face fell.

"Don't tell me you've never been on a motorbike before."

"You know it's not really my style. They're super dangerous. I've always avoided them." Elena swore she heard him mumble something under his breath about Matt saying that she was meant to be fun before sighing deeply. She chose to ignore it for the sake of their mutual friends. "Plus, this dress is super tight. I don't even think I'll be able to get one leg over that thing." she said trying to mimick the motion.

"Okay. So what do we do? Walk?" Tyler asked sounding a little annoyed.

"We could take my car if you want? It's just there." she said pointing to the red Suzuki swift.

Tyler hopped off the bike and put away the two helmets. "Fine."

_Wow this date was off to a great start._ Elena thought to herself as she pulled out her keys from her clutch and unlocked her car door. _There was no way that this could possibly get any worse..._

Tyler opened the door to the car and climbed into the passenger seat, as Elena started the engine. "So where are we going?"

"Where did you make the reservations?" Elena asked, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow.

"Oh."

"You did make the reservations, right? Matt said that you had made them."

"I forgot. I'm sorry. But we can go wherever... I don't really care. I was really swamped at work. We are a month away from the playoffs and work gets really hectic-"

Elena forced a smile for what felt like the hundred time that night and worked on her breathing exercises quietly. _"It's fine_. We will find something." she cooed. "Have you been to Caesar's? It's this dainty little restaurant over on Peachtree Avenue. They make authentic Italian...it's basically to _die_ for."

"Sounds good. Let's go there."

"Right." Elena said, putting on her indicators as she was about to exit out of the curb.

**"Whoop! Whoop! Pull over that ass too fat."**

Elena turned her attention back to Tyler.

"Don't worry, it's just my cell phone."

**"Whoop! Whoop! Pull over that ass too fat."**

"Do you want to get that?"

"No it's fine. It will go to voicemail soon. Let's go and eat."

"Okay so Caesar's it is-"

**"Whoop! Whoop! Pull over that ass too fat."**

**"Whoop! Whoop! Pull over that ass too fat."**

"Seriously..it's fine. You should answer it." Elena said. "I insist."

Tyler pulled out his cell phone, checked the caller ID and turned his attention towards the passenger window. "_Hey you. _Aww you know me, I'm always in the middle of something. Yeah okay, yeah...11pm? Okay. _Hey, let's make it 10:30._" he whispered.

Elena rolled her eyes and turned her head in his direction. _Jokes on her for thinking that the night couldn't possibly get any worse..._

"Alright. Alright. I'll see you later." Tyler said before ending the call. He turned his attention back to Elena. "I'm sorry...it's a sick friend."

"You know, we don't have to do this." she said, not buying into his obvious lie.

"Really?" Tyler asked enthusiastically as he reached for the door handle of her car. "Okay. Well it was nice-"

"Oh my God! Are you serious?!" Elena snapped, before he had a chance to flee.

"Okay...let's be honest here. You hated me the moment you _saw_ me."

"I did not."

"Yes, you did. I saw the disappointment in your face when you opened the door."

"No, that's not true and our mutual friends set this up...so I think we owe it to them-"

"To what? Spend a few hours faking small talk? Look...best case, we get drunk and we hook up."

"What kind of an _asshole_, are you?!" Elena said, shaking her head.

"Look, it's a Saturday night and I just wanna have some fun, alright?"

"Oh."

"I can go and see my sick friend...and you can go and do _whatever _it is that you like to do on a Saturday night. Do you read? You look like someone that likes reading."

"Okay...you know what? If you wanted to ensure that this wasn't going to be a lousy night, here's a tip: Next time, don't show up an hour late, dress appropriately for the date and don't make a booty call _in front_ of me."

"She's a _sick_ friend."

"Oh right and what the hell are you going to do? Heal her with your magic penis?"

Tyler sighed loudly. "Fine, if you want to go out, we can have some dinner-"

"-Oh my God. No." Elena said cutting him off mid sentence. "I'm not going out with you now. What are you crazy? Get out of my car."

Elena locked her car behind her once they had both gotten out of it. She watched as Tyler headed back to his motorbike without another word. A rage she had never felt before consumed her entire body. She wasn't usually this petty but under these circumstances, she couldn't let him leave without giving him a piece of her mind one more time.

"I don't know what Caroline and Matt were thinking!" Elena called out as she reached the door of her gated community.

"Me neither." Tyler snapped back, before adjusting his helmet on his head.

Elena walked away without another glance and headed down the driveway towards her apartment. She pulled out her cell phone as she approached her front door.

"Caroline, hey it's me. It was _horrible. _The only way you can make this up to me, is if you promise that I never have to see him again."

* * *

x~x~x~x~x~x

**2019**

"Dude if you keep doing that, she's going to puke." Matt warned as he rotated the sausages on his grill.

"No, she won't." Tyler dismissed quickly, continuing to bounce the baby high in the air. "She _loves_ it, don't you Sienna?"

"She's got her puking face."

"Honey..." Caroline called out from the kitchen doorway. "Don't forget to tip the Castle boys."

Matt shook his head. "They show up an hour late, high as kites and make me do all the freaking work, but sure...let's tip the boys." he mumbled under his breath as he walked over to the two teenagers goofing around near the assembled jumping castle. "What was that?"

"Uh nothing." one of them said, quickly stuffing a ziplock bag into his shirt pocket.

"Did you bring drugs to my house?"

"No." the other one said quickly.

"So you wouldn't mind waiting while I call the police to confirm that?"

"Look Mister, it's only pot." the first boy said, reaching into his pocket to show them. "See."

"Great. Hand it over." Matt said reaching out his hand.

"What? Why?" the other guy asked.

"Because if you don't I'm going to call your work and tell them that you not only showed up late and high, but you brought drugs into my daughter's birthday party. And then I'm going to call the police."

"Okay..okay." the guy without the drugs said, his face draining of all colour. "Give it to him."

"We just got this." the other one hissed.

"Dude, do you want to get made by the police? Give him the bag."

The guy sighed heavily and handed the pouch over to Matt. "Please don't tell our work. We are on our last strike."

"I expect you back her by eight to pack up the jumping castle. If you are late, I might be inclined to call your boss. Do you understand?" Matt asked pocketing the drugs.

"Yes Sir." the boys said nodding in unison.

"Good...now scram."

Matt watched as the two boys hurried away through the back gate, before returning to his barbecue.

"Geez what did you do to them?" Tyler asked, "They left looking like they had seen a ghost."

"Oh, you know...I just stole their sash." Matt said holding out the pouch of pot. "Delivery kids...they all show up stoned. Who needs a dealer?"

"Aren't you supposed to be respectable now that you have a daughter?"

"Relax. Once a year under the right circumstances, Caroline and I like to relive our misspent youth."

"Once a year? Yeah right."

"Okay...maybe twice a year." Matt mumbled.

Tyler walked Sienna into the jumping castle. "Come on baby girl, let's have some fun."

"Lockwood...don't bounce her too much."

"She loves it, she's fine."

"Lockwood...I'm warning you."

"Look at her fac-" Before Tyler could finish his sentence, Sienna had brought up her breakfast on his face.

Matt roared with laughter. "Didn't I warn you? Because I told you so.."

Tyler wiped away the vomit from his eyes with the bottom of his shirt. "Here, take your baby. I need to clean myself up." he said before heading towards the house.

* * *

x~x~x~x~x~x

"No Caroline. No." Elena said holding up the frosting spoon she was using to coat the cake.

"Please Elena, you will really like this guy. He's a doctor and he's single...he's handsome and sweet. You should see how attentive he is with Sienna. He's the total catch."

"I'm_ sure_ he is."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Caroline asked crossing her hands over her chest.

"It's just, I've heard this all before, Care. 'Oohh Elena, you have to go out with this guy...he works in a library' and then when I'm on the date with him, he tells me that he is not the librarian, but the _clown_ that is hired to do appearances for the library."

"So...you had one bad experience? Is that going to stop you from putting yourself out there?"

Elena scoffed. "One bad experience? Care, did you forget that you set me up with the guy that collected teeth? He creeped me the fuck out and I'm still convinced to this day that he was a serial killer, because those teeth couldn't possibly have all been his."

"Okay... so two bad experiences."

Elena raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at her friend. "Then there was the shoplifter, the guy who was deaf and mute...do you know how awkward that date was for me when we couldn't even communicate? And let's not even get into the whole Lockwood debacle from 2015..."

"Hey, that's not fair. That was Matt. I barely even knew him then."

"You knew that he called himself _Lockwood." _

"What now?" Tyler asked walked into the kitchen and interrupting their conversation. "I knew you couldn't stop talking about me, Elena." he said pulling her in close to him, by her hips.

"Eww you reek." she said fighting him off.

"Sienna threw up on me."

"I bet she's not the first girl to do that." Elena teased.

"I'll go and get you one of Matt's shirts." Caroline said leaving the room.

"So what flavour is the cake?" Tyler asked pulling off his shirt.

"Choc-Banana." Elena, said playing no attention to Tyler, as she continued to frost the cake.

"Did you have to put banana in it?"

"I'm sorry, is it your birthday that we are celebrating?" Elena snapped. "Didn't think so. Sienna loves bananas."

Tyler walked over to Elena and scooped some icing onto his index finger, before bringing it to his lips quickly.

"Ugh, your disgusting!" she said pushing him away with both hands. Elena's head snapped up quickly. She had never seen Tyler without his shirt on before. _Wow, is that really what he looks like underneath his flannels and worn out tee-shirts? __He literally has the body of a Greek God. His abs feel so rock hard and solid...concentrate, Elena! _

"I know I have a killer bod, but do you mind taking your hands off my abs? I don't want any of the other ladies to see this and think I'm off the market." Tyler smirked, bringing her back to reality. Elena quickly dropped her hands from his chest.

"I thought you were dating, Amy?" she asked, turning back to her cake and praying that she wasn't blushing scarlet red right now.

"Nope." Tyler said taking a bite out of a cupcake on the bench. "We broke up last month."

"I thought you really liked this one. What happened?"

"What are we friends now?"

"No, Lockwood. You and I will always, _always_ be sworn enemies, but whatever you tell Matt goes back to Caroline, who tells me. So if you don't want to talk about it, it's fine. I'm sure Care will fill me in on the details later."

Tyler sighed heavily. "She wanted to get married. I wasn't ready for the commitment."

"Translation: you freaked out." Elena said, pausing from her cake to look at him. "You were with her for nearly a year, I mean that's some new record for you, Lockwood. Even Matt and Caroline thought you had found _'the one'_."

"Now, this is much better." Tyler said holding up the half eaten cupcake. "Did you make these?"

"Lockwood! Nice bait and switch." Elena said slapping him on the shoulder. "They are supposed to be for the neighbour's children. And yes, you do know that I own my own bakery, right?"

Before he could reply, Caroline re-entered the kitchen with a clean shirt. "Here you go, Lockwood." she said passing him the shirt.

"Thanks Care." he said pulling the shirt on quickly.

Elena's eyes suddenly found themselves checking out Tyler's body again. Matt's shirt, Caroline had given him was too small and it clung onto every grove of his protruding abs. His hands, looked muscular and well defined. His sculptured body was definitely stirring up something in her. Elena could feel her face burn bright red again. She needed to get out of this room, away from Lockwood and his killer abs before her ovaries exploded from pleasure.

"Elena?" Caroline asked, waving a hand in front of her face.

"I, uh, I forgot the piping bags in my car..." she mumbled, untying her apron quickly. "I need them to make the roses for on top of the cake. I'll be back."

"What's up with her?" she heard Tyler ask after she left the kitchen.

"I have no idea."

* * *

x~x~x~x~x~x

"What time is it?" Tyler asked. "I'm starving."

"I told the others to come at midday, so you can snack on these." Caroline said, putting a bowl of corn chips and salsa in front of him. "Just don't ruin your appetite because it's already 11am."

"So 10am in Lockwood time." Elena teased. "You know, I'm actually surprised that you are even up right now."

"You keep your watch on during sex, don't you?" Tyler hit back.

"At least I don't wear that hideous baseball cap everywhere I go. It's okay, Lockwood... you can take it off now. We all know about the receding hairline."

"It's a widows peak."

"Hey, hey, hey! Baby's first birthday. Can we please keep it civil today?" Caroline snapped, passing them both a glass of Champagne.

"It's a widows peak. I don't have a receding hairline." Tyler corrected Elena.

"Baby's birthday. Neutral corners." Matt said, throwing up his hands in the air, when Tyler looked at him for some back up. Caroline passed her husband a glass of champagne.

"First birthday," Caroline said, taking off Tyler's hat. "You can take your hat off for pictures."

"Before everyone gets here, we wanted to give a toast to Sienna's two favourite people." Matt started.

"And our best friends." Caroline said chiming in.

"We made it through our first year, with most of our sanity. Thanks to you two."

"We love you guys." Caroline and Matt said in unison, holding up the glasses in the air to toast their friends.

"We love you too." Elena said, holding up her glass.

"Are you crying?" Tyler asked, making Elena roll her eyes. He always just knew how to ruin a moment.

"What? I'm a mother now. Mother's cry." Caroline said sniffing a little.

The sound of the doorbell ringing broke everyone out of their conversation.

"Thank God, the babysitter is here."

"Why do you need a babysitter when you are both here?" Elena asked, reaching out for Sienna.

"'Cause she's a genius. When Sienna goes nuclear, she's the only one that can calm her down." Caroline said heading towards the front door. "We call her the baby whisperer."

"Baby whisperer." Elena repeated to Sienna.

"Wow. Is she hot?" Tyler asked Matt. Elena rolled her eyes.

"Totally hot." Matt replied, nodding at Tyler.

Tyler laughed and sculled the rest of his champagne.

"What is wrong with you?" Elena asked, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, everybody, this is Amy." Caroline said, introducing them to a girl who looked roughly thirteen years old.

"Hi Sienna? How are you?" Amy said walking over to Elena and taking the baby away. "I'll get her changed and ready."

"Thanks Amy." Caroline called out.

"Really? _That's _the baby whisperer?"

"If she was old enough to have sex with Matt, I'm telling you I would be obsolete."

"You would never be obsolete, babe." Matt said handing his wife another glass of champagne and kissing her quickly on the lips.

* * *

x~x~x~x~x~x

"Excuse me, miss. Excuse me..." a pretty young blonde girl called out to Elena as she was handing around hors d'oeuvres to the party guests.

Elena pointed to herself with her index finger to see if she was the person that the girl was calling out to.

"Are you the caterer"

Elena smiled. "Yes and Caroline's best friend."

"Excellent. Come and sit down, please." she said tapping the empty spot on the sofa next to her. "Because you are in trouble...for making food to _die _for."

Elena sighed a breath of relief and sat down next to the girl.

"Rebekah Gerard," she said extending her hand for Elena to shake. "And that handsome man over there is my husband, Marcel and I have not stopped gushing about your delicious food since we got here."

"Thank you."

* * *

x~x~x~x~x~x

"Lockwood, was it?" A guy around his age, with a heavy British accent asked handing him a beer. "Matt said you might be needing another beverage."

"Cheers." Tyler said accepting the drink. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've met. I'm Tyler Lockwood."

"Niklaus Mikealson. But everyone calls me, Klaus."

"Nice to met you Klaus, thanks for the beer."

"It was my pleasure mate." he said before taking a sip of his. "Matt tells me that you guys have been friends since high school."

"Yeah."

"I've known Matt since he and Caroline moved into the neighbourhood. I'm next door on the left. My sister, is also here somewhere with her husband and she lives directly opposite this house."

"It must be nice to be so close to family." Tyler said before taking a sip of his beer.

"It has certain perks...free babysitting...cooked meals" he said smiling devilishly. "So, I hear you used to be the quarterback at school. Pity that you had that injury. Matt said that you would've been unstoppable if you had played at a professional level. Especially since you had that scholarship all lined up."

Tyler faked a smile. It was still a subject that he didn't like to relive. The injury that ended his career and his dreams of playing professional football.

"So, Matt says you work for ESPN broadcasting the hawks games?"

"Yes."

"What made you switch from NFL to the NBA?"

_Painful memories of a sport I could no longer play._ "I, uh, just took whatever sporting job I could get my hands on after college." Tyler lied, quickly before having another sip of his beer.

"There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere." A blonde woman said, wrapping her hands around Klaus' waist and kissing him on the back of his shoulder blade.

"Allow me to introduce you to my wife." Klaus said. "Camille, Tyler. Tyler, this is Camille."

"Cami." she said shaking her head and extending her hand to Tyler. "Only my husband insists on calling me by that name."

"Nice to meet you, Cami."

"Hello!" Another young woman said, joining their little huddle.

"Hayley, how are you?" Cami said pulling the pretty brunette into a hug.

"I'm great." she said smiling. "And _who _is this handsome man?"

"Tyler Lockwood." Tyler laughed extending his hand towards her.

"I don't think we've met. I would remember that face." she said pulling him by the jaw with her thumb and index finger.

"Don't let Jackson catch you flirting with the new guy." Klaus teased. "Hayley is married to Jackson. They live next door to Cami & I."

"Puh-lease. I'm happily married." Hayley said flashing her gigantic wedding ring in Tyler's face. "I love my husband very much, we were high school sweethearts. But he can appreciate a nice looking man whenever we find such a specimen." she said winking at Tyler.

_Matt and Caroline's neighbours were so weird. _Tyler thought as he downed his beer.

* * *

x~x~x~x~x~x

"So, Elena..._which_ one is your partner?"

"I'm actually single at the moment." she said. "It's just me."

"Well. You won't be single for long." Rebekah said patting her lap. "A gorgeous girl like you...with such fine culinary skills...I'm sure you will cook your way into someone's heart soon enough."

"I'm single by choice, actually."

"Aww sweetheart. _Bad break up_?"

"You can say that." Elena said. "But no, it's more than that. I'm really busy at the moment. I'm trying to renovate my bakery to turn it into a restaurant and that's taking up all my time and resources."

"Hmmm." Rebekah said nodding. "Just remember that women your age don't have the liberty of being selective."

Elena counted to ten. "_Women my age?_ I'm sorry, we are the same age. You literally told me before that you were also twenty-eight."

"But I'm married, sweetie." Rebekah said softly.

"Geez. Was that the timer? I'm sorry, I have to go and check on the oven. We can't have the food burning." _Who would want to marry me then? _Elena thought as she hurried away from nosy Rebekah Gerard and her endless brigade of prying questions. _Caroline and Matt's neighbours kinda suck._

* * *

x~x~x~x~x~x

"Elena, this cake is gorgeous. It's so much prettier than my wedding cake."

"Hey, I made your wedding cake!" Elena said, as she finished piping little pink rosettes on the top of the cake.

"I know. But sweetie, you really went all out for this one." Caroline said, hugging her tightly. "Thank you so much babe. For everything. For the cake, for the food."

"It's no problem at all." she said, squeezing her friend back tightly.

"No, I'm being serious. My neighbour Rebekah is literally in love with you. She could not stop talking about how _'orgasmic'_ your food was."

"She really said Orgasmic? Ewww." Elena said scrunching up her nose in disgust.

"Your food is literally orgasmic! Don't judge. Anyways, she asked me for your number. I hope you don't mind. She has two children and she's always throwing some kind of party for them. I figured you could use the extra cash since you're trying to renovate."

"Thanks Care."

"Okay, so the cake is done, right?" Caroline asked, trying a little of the icing with her index finger. "Wow babe."

"It's all done." Elena said turning it around and checking it out from every angle.

"Great, let's get everyone in here to sing Happy Birthday."

* * *

x~x~x~x~x~x

"Okay, so before we cut the cake, we just want to say a few words." Caroline said once everyone had assembled into the kitchen. "Firstly, thank you to our beautiful friend Elena, who not only made this gorgeous cake, but catered for the entire party. I know a lot of people have complimented us on the food and well I just wanted to give credit, where credit is due. You should all go and check out her bakery Blissful Bites, it's on Ellis Street, opposite the Ritz-Carlton. You won't be disappointed. Thank you Elena, we love you babe."

"We also wanted to thank everyone that came along today." Matt said. "You guys are amazing. Thank you for being here to celebrate the first of many birthdays for our little girl Sienna. When we moved into this neighbour three years ago, we had no idea how welcoming and loving you all would be. You are like our second family, and it means the world to Caroline and I, to know that we have people that always truly have our back whenever we are sick or in need of assistance. So thank you again."

"So before we blow out the candles and serve this cake, we just want to take one quick photo of Sienna with her godparents, Elena and Tyler. So can you guys please come here?"

"Ready?" Matt asked, holding up the camera when Elena and Tyler had positioned themselves on either side of Sienna's high chair. "Say Cheese."

* * *

x~x~x~x~x~x

**SPRING**

"Okay Kai, give it to me." Elena said walking into the kitchen of her bakery and wrapping a towel around her petite waist.

"Elena, please. They are not ready." Kai said fighting her for the cookie she had picked up from the bench. "I want to make another batch."

"They look ready to me." she said popping it into her mouth before moaning loudly. "Okay,_ they are so good._ Beyond amazing. You're a genius. You are. You may be bipolar, but you're a genius. I would literally eat them from the trash."

"Eating them out of the trash is just nasty. You don't think there's too much cinnamon? I think the crumb is too fine."

"You're crazy." Elena said picking up the tray of cookies. "I'm putting them out on the counter now. These things are going to be flying off the tray before midday. Just watch."

"See babe, what did I tell you?" Bonnie said planting a kiss on her boyfriend's cheek. "You are way to hard on yourself."

Elena arranged the cookie tray next to the cash register and snapped her head up to the sound of the bell chiming as people entered her shop. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw him walk along the big windows of her bakery and head to the front door. _12:15pm right on the dot, like clockwork everyday for the past month and a half. _

"I'm just going to take over from this register." Elena said to Bonnie, taking her hair out of the beanie she was wearing and tossing it around a little. "Thanks babe."

"Ahh I see. Free range turkey is here." Bonnie teased, squeezing her shoulder gently.

"I think Kai needs you in the kitchen." Elena lied.

"I knew you liked him. You do this every time he comes in."

"Bonnie..please." Elena widened her eyes at her friend, pleading her silently to shut up.

"Fine. I'll go and hang out with my boyfriend. But I just want you to know that _I know_ that you like him. You don't kick people off the register when old man Coleman comes in."

"Bye Bonnie." Elena said, as he approached the counter.

"Hey."

"Let me guess, free range turkey on a baguette?"

"I'm getting predictable, huh?"

Elena chuckled. "Well I actually prefer to think of it as dependable. It's been 45 of the same sandwich."

"You're counting?"

"Ish. 45-ish of the same sandwich. You know there are other things on the menu. If you like to try something else."

He smiled. "Okay...um surprise me."

"Okay great, do you like smoked salmon?"

"I do, yeah."

"Okay, then I've got just the thing." Elena said, pulling out ingredients from her fridge and starting on his sandwich.

"How come you don't wear one of those white coats, you know, with your name on it? So I know what it is." he asked, once Elena had turned her back to him to prepare his food.

"It's Elena."

"Elena. Stefan.' he said extending out his hand for her to shake. "Nice to met you. We met 45 sandwiches ago."

"46 now." Elena said cutely, as she put his sandwich in a bag. Stefan smiled at her and handed her the money for it.

"Thanks. Keep the change."

"Oh thanks."

"Bye Elena. See you tomorrow."

"Bye."

Elena watched as he headed towards the front door. "Uh, Stefan, are you sure you don't want to throw your card into the bowl? The winner gets a free lunch." she called out.

Stefan smiled and walked over to the counter again. Pulling out a card from his wallet, he placed it into the bowl. "How about a free dinner on me?"

Elena smiled. She could not believe her luck. The guy she had been crushing on for months was actually interested in her too. She couldn't wait to call Caroline. She quickly dipped her hand into the bowl of business cards but was startled when Bonnie snuck up behind her.

"Eh eh eh. Wait." Bonnie said slapping her hand away. "Wait for the hot guy to leave before you blow your cool."

They watched as Stefan walked past the bakery windows, smiling one last time at Elena before he went out of view.

"Okay, now."

"What? Where is it?" Elena asked going through the pile of cards. "Okay so that's a Jeremy...Kol...Oh here's Stefan...wait, here's another one. Enzo...Josh..." she said reading through the names. "Here's another Stefan. How many Stefans are in this City?"

* * *

x~x~x~x~x~x

"Okay camera six...show me what you've got." Tyler's boss Alvin said, pacing around the room with a coffee in hand and headset in on his head. "Right, zoom on camera three. A little more. More. More. More. Okay stop. Perfect. Camera four, have you got a better angle? Show me. Aiden, get me shooting percentages. Let's go."

"Have I told you that I hate him so much?" Aiden whispered to Tyler.

"Come on, he's not that bad."

"I want to frame someone's murder on him, you know? Finger prints...scene of the crime. That's how much I hate him."

"Aiden, I assume you have those percentages for me otherwise you wouldn't be talking."

"Nearly done, sir."

Tyler laughed loudly. "Did you just call him _sir?" _

"Shut up." Aiden snapped.

"Come on people, this is a big game, let's bump up the energy. Ready two? Go two." Alvin said. "Ready six.. where's my six?"

"Wait..." Tyler said cutting off his boss mid-sentence. "The hawks are pushing forward...they are about to score, we should stay in backcourt for a minute."

"Nice. Good call, Lockwood." Alvin said once the Hawks had scored two more points on the board. "Aiden where the hell are my shooting percentages?"

* * *

x~x~x~x~x~x

There was nothing in the world that Elena hated more than _Voicemail_. But that had been her luck tonight as she made her way through the four possible Stefan candidates, as she relaxed in a hot, soapy bath in her dimly lit bathroom full of flickering candles.

"Hi Stefan, this is Elena Gilbert from Blissful Bites. I think you left your card in my bowl today for the free lunch. I hope you did because you are one of four Stefans who did this month." Elena said nervously into the portable phone. "And if it is you and you asked me out...I accept."

"Hello?" a woman's voice said on the opposite line.

"Hello?"

"Why are you calling my husband?"

"Right, you're his wife. Of course. I'm sorry."

"You know, we are very happily married."

"I understand that you are happily married. Really, I didn't mean anything by it. I'm so sorry. Yes, you take care too. I'm so sorry again." Elena clicked off the portable phone and sighed. A part of her was ready to give up and just ask Stefan out the next time he came into her shop again, but the stronger, more dominant part of her urged her continue.

"Hi, Stefan?"

"No, this is Stefanie."

"Oh, Stefanie! Right." Elena said examining the card more closely. _How the hell did that end up in her list of cards? _"I'm sorry, I have the wrong number-"

"Maybe not." the voice on the other line cooed. "Are you single?"

"I am single, yes. But I'm straighter than a straight line."

"But have you ever been with another woman? How would you know unless you try it?"

"I, Uh, I'm sorry Stefanie, have a nice night, Bye." Elena said clicking off the phone quickly. _One last card. She just had to get through this last call and she could say that she at least tried to contact him when she saw Stefan tomorrow.._

"Hi Stefan Salvatore. Doctor Stefan Salvatore...This is Elena Gilbert from Blissful Bites, and I am really hoping that you're the Stefan I talked to today. If not, I'm screwed because you're the last Stefan who put his card in the bowl for a free lunch..." Elena laughed nervously, before her phone line started to beep. "Oh, I'm sorry call waiting..."

Elena clicked the phone over to the other line. "Hello? Yes, this is she."

* * *

x~x~x~x~x~x

Elena's world spun as she entered the police building and ran to the front desk. "Hello, excuse me. I'm looking for an officer Quinn."

Everything that happened after that moment was a blur. She couldn't remember how she had gotten into one of the private rooms. She could barely remember meeting the officer that broke the news to her.

"The highway patrol officer at the scene found your name and number on an insurance contact card in her wallet." Officer Quinn said slowly. "Now what we need from you, is numbers for the nearest next of kin. Can you supply those?"

Elena nodded through tears. "Yeah, Matt's dad, um I think he lives in Miami...you said the car flipped? It flipped when it hit the..."

"Miss Gilbert, are you sure you wouldn't like to sit down?"

"They have a baby girl. Sienna...was she in the car too?" Elena choked out through sobs. "Was she in the car? Was she in the car with them?"

"No. She was in the care of a minor. A babysitter, at the time of the accident. So the officers placed her with CPS for the night." Office Quinn said. "She's perfectly fine."

"CPS?" Elena repeated a little confused.

"Child Protective Services. Where they take cases like these."

"Cases like this?"

"Orphaned children, Miss Gilbert." Office Quinn said solemnly.

* * *

x~x~x~x~x~x

Tyler rushed into the police station and headed straight for the front desk, but before he could ask for Officer Quinn, Elena called out to him from the corner of the waiting area. He walked up to her slowly, his motor cycle helmet under his arm. Her face was tear stained, her hair pulled together in a messy ponytail from overplaying with it all night- a trait she did whenever she was nervous- and her eyes were bloodshot red from hours of crying. His heart sunk instantly. It could only mean one thing. _His friends hadn't survived the crash._

He had come as soon as he had heard the voicemail. But he was still hours too late. _How long had she been here, crying by herself without anyone to comfort her?_ He felt a stab in his heart. If only he had checked his phone at half-time, he could've left work as soon as he had gotten the message.

"Elena..." he whispered softly, when she ran into his embrace.

They had never hugged before. In all the years that they had known each other, they had being too busy hating each other to ever hug. But tonight, he pulled her tightly into his embrace, leaving his motorcycle helmet on a seat, so he could cradle the back of her head. He felt her clutch onto his shirt, as if her life depended on it and his heart broke when she started sobbing into his chest again, her entire body shaking. He did the best he could to soothe her, but he was never really good in situations like these. And after a few minutes in each other's embrace, Tyler found himself crying too.

* * *

x~x~x~x~x~x

It was raining heavily by the time they reached Caroline and Matt's house. Tyler had offered to drive them back in her car, much to Elena's relief because driving home in heavy rain, the same night she was trying to process never seeing her best friends again would've pushed her over the edge. The house that was once full of love and joy, felt empty and cold upon arrival. Caroline had given them both spare keys for in case of emergency and it made Elena sick to her stomach that the first time she was using the key was under these circumstances.

"Elena, have you eaten? You look pale." Tyler said once they entered the living room. "Do you want me to make you something to eat?"

"I don't even want to think about food, right now." she mumbled, putting down her bag onto the couch and pulling out her cellphone.

"What about something to drink? A tea?"

"A tea would be great."

"Okay, I'll be back." Tyler said walking into the kitchen and flicking on the kettle.

"No, no, I don't understand why we can't see her tonight."

Tyler entered the living room to find Elena on the phone to CPS. He placed the tray of tea down on the coffee table in front of where Elena was pacing the floor.

"No ma'am I don't care about your stupid protocol. She's alone and she's probably afraid. She should be at home with people that she knows. This is bullsh- yes, I will be here at this number. Yes." Elena sighed heavily hanging up the phone. "They won't do anything. Not until 8am tomorrow. This is such bullshit."

"Okay, okay. I'm sure that she's fine. Have your tea. It's peppermint." Tyler said passing her a cup. "Why don't we sleep here tonight? You know, that way we are here in the morning if they call early."

"Alright." Elena said wiping away fresh tears from her eyes, before taking a sip of her hot beverage.

"Why don't you go ahead and take the guest bedroom."

"Okay, you can take their room if you want."

"No, thank you. I'll- I'll sleep over there on the couch."

"See you in the morning." Elena said as she started to walk out of the living room. Despite their mutual hatred and differences, she probably wouldn't have made it through the night without him. She turned around at the entrance to the living room, stopping at the doorway frame. "Thanks Lockwood." she said, as he started to form cushions into a pillow on the couch. "Not just for the tea and bringing me here...but for _everything_ you did tonight. I couldn't imagine facing this kinda news on my own."

"Me too, Elena. I wouldn't even know what to do if we weren't going through this together. Try to get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

x-x

**Author's Note: **

**Sorry for the extremely long chapter. I realise I could've split this into two but I thought this would read better in one continuation otherwise people might lose interest if I dragged out the part where the friends die? So I don't know if I will get any reviews on this, but it was fun to write. If you want me to continue, let me know? Paris x**


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